It's been an interesting first week. After my preliminary meetings with Nadia and Raeif, I came to school the next day to meet with Shachar. Shachar is the English teacher at the 5th and 6th grade levels. From what Nadia told me, she's amazing at what she does, but sometimes difficult to work with. Nadia warned me that Shachar hadn't had good experiences with other volunteers, so she might not be nice. She said she wanted me to help Shachar because she's overwhelmed with the amount of work she has to do.
In my first conversation with her, Shachar wasn't all that nice to me, but agreed to meet up with me the next day. She then explained to me that children in the same grade and class have varying levels of proficiency in English. This is because some children have the opportunity to travel to the US and other places, so they are way advanced; others are not interested at all, so they cannot keep up with the class; and others are at their level. She told me she wanted me to help her with the kids who were way behind the rest of their class. She said there are many reasons why these kids fall behind, but I learned one of those reasons can be because of personal problems (at home or in their communities).
I taught my first student, Majd, on Monday. He's in the fifth grade and speaks absolutely no English. Shachar told me to take him out of the class and tutor him. I took him to the library and we learned very basic things. I speak enough Arabic to help him learn, but he was great. By the end of the class, he seemed to be happy and satisfied with his learning. Shachar later told me that she was thrilled with what I had done, and that she really wanted us to work together. I guess all she needed to know was that whoever is working with these children legitimately cares and wants to help them.
I know I didn't come here to teach English, but it felt great to see Majd so excited about learning. I have seen him around a couple of times and he always waves and shows me his biggest smile- " Hi, Mariam" he says all excited. Makes me smile every time.
In my first conversation with her, Shachar wasn't all that nice to me, but agreed to meet up with me the next day. She then explained to me that children in the same grade and class have varying levels of proficiency in English. This is because some children have the opportunity to travel to the US and other places, so they are way advanced; others are not interested at all, so they cannot keep up with the class; and others are at their level. She told me she wanted me to help her with the kids who were way behind the rest of their class. She said there are many reasons why these kids fall behind, but I learned one of those reasons can be because of personal problems (at home or in their communities).
I taught my first student, Majd, on Monday. He's in the fifth grade and speaks absolutely no English. Shachar told me to take him out of the class and tutor him. I took him to the library and we learned very basic things. I speak enough Arabic to help him learn, but he was great. By the end of the class, he seemed to be happy and satisfied with his learning. Shachar later told me that she was thrilled with what I had done, and that she really wanted us to work together. I guess all she needed to know was that whoever is working with these children legitimately cares and wants to help them.
I know I didn't come here to teach English, but it felt great to see Majd so excited about learning. I have seen him around a couple of times and he always waves and shows me his biggest smile- " Hi, Mariam" he says all excited. Makes me smile every time.
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